This invention relates to a system and method for extracting energy from a moving fluid. In particular, the invention relates to a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) with variable pitch vertical wings that are under computer control.
The background art is characterized by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,730,643; 3,902,072; 4,052,134; 4,129,787; 4,168,439; 4,303,834; 4,303,835; 4,368,392; 4,410,806; 4,530,642; 4,546,264; 4,589,344; 4,832,569; 5,503,525; 6,244,919; 6,379,115; 6,672,522; 6,884,020; and by U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0243066; the disclosures of which patents and patent application are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The background art is also characterized by France Patent No. 2845428 and China Patent No. 1858438.
What is needed is a system and method that optimizes the ability of a VAWT to achieve a maximum achievable coefficient of power, on a millisecond by millisecond basis, regardless of instantaneous wind speed and instantaneous wind direction.